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Sesame Street Live

It's funny. When you become a parent, things change. What you thought to be one of the most important aspects of your life may no longer be quite as important. Iowa football, for instance. I was a pretty die-hard fan pre-Brantley. I let their losses ruin my Saturdays. Seriously. I still love Iowa football, but if you would have asked me on a Friday this fall who Iowa's opponent was the following day, I would have scrambled to check my calendar. A few years ago, I would have rolled my eyes at the thought of that.

For Craig, it was KU basketball. He planned his life around KU basketball. Besides me, it was histoppriority. Hands down. And I could probably even give a few examples of when he put KU basketball above me. (Right, honey?) Never, did I ever, think having a kid would change that about him.

Turns out, I was wrong.

In November, we decided to buy tickets for Sesame Street Live. Brantley was obsessed with Elmo at the time and we thought it would be the perfect mid-January activity. (He still is obsessed with "Melma", but has developed a newer love for Mickey Mouse.) There were multiple showtimes to choose from, ranging from Thursday through Sunday evening and scattered all throughout the weekend, so I asked the hubs which time he thought would be best. We ended up buying tickets for the 2pm Saturday afternoon show. We thought that would give us the perfect excuse to grab lunch somewhere downtown before heading to the Sprint Center.

A few days before the show, as we were finalizing our plans, Craig realized he was going to miss the KU game due to the show. And not just any old game, but the KU/K-State Sunflower Showdown. Seeing that KU doesn't play Mizzou anymore, the K-State game is probably the biggest rivalry game of the year. The hubs was forced to trade in his comfy couch and crimson and blue for Elmo, Big Bird, and the rest of the Sesame Street gang. Lucky him.

When I asked why he didn't think to check the basketball schedule before deciding on a showtime, he replied with, "I was thinking more about Brantley and his nap schedule."

Altogether now...awhhhhhhhhhhhh. :)

And not only did he give up watching the KU game (in real time-he DVRed it, of course), but not once did he complain about missing it and may have even mutured the words, "It's all worth it for Brantley."

Proof that becoming a parent changes you in ways you never thought possible.

As for the show, it was 90 minutes long with a 15-minute intermission. Brantley was amused for about the first 40 minutes, but got a little antsy (bored, tired) after intermission. (As did his Mama and Daddy.) We had pretty great seats--the first row not on the floor--though I will say, there wasn't really a bad seat in the place because of how small they limit the audience to. And because we were in the front row of our section, Brantley was lucky enough to get to touch a couple of the characters as they walked through the audience. No one as cool as Elmo...but characters nonetheless! (Telly and Zoe...I googled them.)

Seeing Brantley's face when the character's first came on stage was one of those moments that makes parenthood worth every frustration, every penny, and every compromise. Even if it that compromise is Sesame Street Live instead of a beloved KU basketball game.